Forrester report highlights 2024 IAM trends & AI impact

Forrester's latest report, "The Top Trends Shaping Identity And Access Management In 2024", has identified the ten most influential trends expected to affect the identity and access management (IAM) landscape in the upcoming year. The report delves into the significant role artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to play in enhancing IAM technologies, the evolving nature of identity threats, the rising adoption of passwordless authentication, and the emergence of business-to-business (B2B) IAM as a distinct product segment.

Geoff Cairns, Forrester Principal Analyst and co-author of the report, provided insights into the findings. The report emphasizes the growing interconnection of identity and cybersecurity as organizations navigate increasingly intricate and dynamic IT environments. With identity-centric threats on the rise, there is a visible shift towards commercial IAM solutions capable of maintaining security integrity.

The influence of AI is a notable highlight in the trends observed for 2024. AI is seen as crucial in enhancing the security foundations of IAM platforms, offering more profound insights into identities and entitlements, and improving the detection of identity-based threats. This technological progress comes against a backdrop of growing concerns over GenAI-aided deepfakes, which pose challenges to the adoption of biometric security measures.

In the domain of identity protection, the report forecasts a significant increase in the presence of FIDO passkeys on business-to-consumer (B2C) websites and applications. By the end of 2024, it is anticipated that 30% of these platforms will offer FIDO passkeys, representing a substantial step towards eliminating passwords and advancing phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Emerging technologies related to digital identities and identity verification are expected to see substantial application in B2B scenarios in 2024. This growth marks a critical opportunity for vendor differentiation as the need for robust identity verification solutions becomes increasingly prominent in commercial engagements.

For organisations grappling with identity threats, today's internet environment is a battleground requiring innovative and adaptive products to ensure security.